Method of erecting concrete structures



Aug. 17, 1965 P. PLUCKEBAUM METHOD OF ERECTING CONCRETE STRUCTURES Filed Sept. 14, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGZ FIGA

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8 5 J tam, jaw M United States Patent ()ffice 3,2315% Fatented Aug. I7, 1965 3,261,502 METHOD OF EREC'IING CONCRETE STRUCTURES Paul Pliiclrebaum, Am Sandaclrer 22, Dusseldorf-Hamlin, Germany Filed Sept. 14, 1962,. Ser. No. 223,799 Uaims priority, application Germany, Apr. 2, 1959, P 22,517; May 11, 1962, P 29,379 2 Claims. (Cl. 264-44) My present invention relates to the construction of multistory buildings by a method wherein the concrete framework (ceiling and supporting columns) of an upper story is completed substantially at ground level and is thereafter elevated so that the framework of the nextlower story may be similarly completed; this method has been disclosed in my c-opending application Ser. No. 17,042, filed March 23, 1960, and now abandoned, of which the present application is .a continuation-in-part.

The construction method outlined above offers the advantages that the work of erecting th framework is carried out substantially exclusively at or near grade level, i.e., on, slightly above or below the ground, so as to minimize the danger of accidents; that the finishing of each .story (e.g., erection of outer walls and partitions, installation of plumbing and construction of stairways) may proceed, again at relatively low elevation, immediately upon the hardening of its concrete framework and concurrently with the casting of the ceilings and columns of a lower story, thereby affording a considerable saving of time; and that most of the work can be done in the shelter of a roof section initially provided over the rising structure.

A general object of this invention is to provide an improved system for erecting multistory buildings by this method and, in particular, insuring a firm and direct concrete-to-concrete bonding between the horizontal slabs and the vertical columns of successive stories whereby the entire building, or at least that part of it which is to be erected by this method, will be joined into a unitary, monolithic concrete skeleton.

, A more particular object of this invention is to provide means for protecting the most recently formed part of the structure, i.e., the momentarilylowermost story, against lateral stresses such as may arise from strong winds which could, if unchecked, impair the stability of the building.

A further object of my present invention is to provide simple and effective means for gradually and uniformly elevating the several columns of each newly completed story framework preparatorily to the'erection of the nextlower story.

In accordance with a feature of this invention I provide, at the location of each concrete column to be erected, a set of upright posts which are peripherally spaced about the column site and serve as temporary supports for the column and its falsework. Advantageously, in the case of columns with polygonal cross-section, these posts are disposed adjacent respective corners of the polygon and are interconnected by horizontal braces adapted to accommodate wedge pieces loosely inserted between these braces and an adjacent form board whereby the latter can be elevated together with its column but is frictionally prevented from sliding back toward the ground. The posts, rising from a foundation which may be on the ground but can also be disposed within .a pit subsequently accommodating a basement floor, are preferably made of structural steel and may be composed of separable longitudinal sections to facilitate their removal upon completion of the structure. The falsework for the horizontal slabs forming the ceilings and floors of the structure can also be conveniently supported on these posts and will usually be so shaped as' to define a set of horizontal reinforcing ribs which radiate outwardly from the sides of each column along the associated slab.

When the columns and slabs have hardened sufficiently to sustain the weight of the overlying structure, they are elevated by the height of one story, e.g., with the aid of hydraulically controlled jacks, whereupon the concrete framework may be temporarily but postively anchored to the posts by suitable supporting bars which are secured to the posts, e.g., by being thrust through suitable cut-outs therein, so as to be contacted by the undersides of the reinforcing ribs of the slabs; the aforementioned braces together with their wedge pieces may then be removed to the extent necessary to enable the subsequent rise of the next story framework to its elevated position.

The invention will be described hereinafter in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

'FIGS..'1-4 schematically illustrate the erection of a multistory building by the aforedescribed method, these figures being generally similar to the FIGS. 1-4 of my application Ser. No. 17,042;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section, of an assembly for erecting such multistory building, shown in a position preparatory to the casting of a lowerstory framework;

FIG. 6 is a view generally similar to FIG. 5, illustrating the cast framework in a partly elevated position; FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views taken on the lines VII-VII and VIII-VIII, respectively, of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line IX-IX of FIG. 5, showing the elevating mechanism;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the same mechanism;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line XI-XI of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is .a sectional elevational view of the base of a column in a slightly modified system; and

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view illustrating a further step in the erection of a building with the modification shown in FIG. 12.

Reference will first be made to FIGS. 1-4 for a general description of the herein contemplated method of erecting a multistory building. As shown in FIG. 1, a pit is dug in the ground G to accommodat equipment, schematically represented by a set of hydraulically operated jacks J, for the progressive elevation of a building structure to be erected overhead. As the first part of the structure, a roof R is disposed above the pit on the jacks J and is subsequently elevate-d (FIG. 2) to make room for the erection of the framework for the uppermost story here designated III. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, story III with the overlying roof R is similarly raised preparatorily to the construction of the next-lower story II. The bottom story I is constructed, as illustrated in FIG. 4, upon the subsequent elevation of the previously completed part II, III, R of the building skeleton whereupon, as a final step, a basement floor B may be installed within the pit. Part of this basement can, of course, also have been completed at an earlier stage.

Details of the equipment used to erect and elevate s-uC- cessive story frameworks have been illustrated in FIGS. 5-11. FIG. 5 shows a foundation 20 which may be sunk into a basement or ground-level floor, supporting a set of steel beam-s 21 arrayed about the location of .a concrete column C This column, along with similar columns (notshown) and an overlying horizontal slab S spanning these columns, forms part of a framework of an intermediate-story of a building in th process of erection; the corresponding column of the next-higher story is shown at C Slab S is formed on its underside with a network of reinforcing ribs or beams B which converge at the square column C and terminate at the four sides thereof.

A vertically movable lead screw 22, forming the ram of a jack shown at J in FIGS. 1-4, is centrally disposed within the foundation 20 between the uprights 21 inalignment with the columns C C thereabove. The falsework necessary for the erection of each story framework is generally shown at 23 and includes vertical boards 23a, defining a column shaft, as well as horizontal boards 2317 which conform to the horizontal reinforcing ribs of the slab to be poured. Boards 23]) and other slab-supporting parts of the falsework 23 rest on supports 24 which are removably secured to the uprights 21 and are braced by auxiliary posts 25.

A set of horizontal braces 26 (FIGS. -8) are demountably secured to the uprights 21 at various levels, with the aid of bolts 27 passing through threaded holes 28, at each of the four sides of the array at a small distance from the corresponding form board 23a. The braces 26 have beveled surfaces 26a which adjoin the form boards and diverge upwardly therefrom 'so as to accommodate a wedge piece 29 designed to back-stop the mold and its column against accidental descent in their elevated position (see FIG. 6). The wedge pieces 29 yield readily in an upward direction so as not to interfere with the elevation of the mold by its ram 22. This ram acts upon the column through a distributor plate 30 which, in addition to supporting the boards 23a and the column, prevents the concrete from flowing into the cavity 31 of the foundation 20 when the column is poured. Other, stationary plates 32 rest on the foundation to support the up rights 21.

As best seen in FIG. 6, each upright 21 is composed of a series of longitudinally adjoining sections 21a which are held together by bolts 33 and, as shown, may be boxtype steel channels of square cross-section. At secondfloor level these uprights are shown enveloped by sheaths 34, e.g., of anti-bonding tape, in order to facilitate the raising of the slab poured therearound. They furthermore are formed, just below second-floor level, with cutouts 35 designed to receive positively acting backstop means in the form of bars or shims 36 serving to support whichever slab has reached the position of slab S in FIG. 5.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 9-11 which illustrate a suitable mechanism for elevating the ram 22 with its overlying distributor plate 30. Ram 22, held against rotation by stationary key 39d in engagement with its vertical groove 22a, is surrounded by two mating nuts 37, 38 which are rotatably journaled in bearing shells 39a, 3912 within a housing 39 and are shown interconnected for joint rotation by means of longitudinal bolts 40. Nut 37 is rigid with an upper gear 41 which meshes with a pinion 42 loosely journaled on a shaft 43; a second pinion 44, also loosely journaled on shaft 43, drives the nut 38 via a lower gear 45, rigid with that nut, through the intermediary of a direction-reversing pinion 46. Shaft 43 entrains the pinions 42 and 44 through respective unidirectional clutches 47 and 48, e.g., ratchet couplings, which are so arranged that one of the pinions (i.e., 44) will follow only clockwise rotation whereas the other pinion will follow only counterclockwise rotation as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. and 11. Shaft 43 is rigid with an arm 49 articulated, by way of a pitman 50, to the rod 51 of a piston 52 inside a hydraulic cylinder 53. Nuts 37 and 38 will thus execute a clockwise motion, adapted to elevate the threaded ram 22, upon each stroke of piston 52 in either direction. Pipes 54 and 55 extend from cylinder 53 to a source of hydraulic fluid, not shown, for alternately admitting such fluid to op posite sides of piston 52 under the control of a suitable valve mechanism of conventional construction. The lower end of shaft 43 is journaled in an extension 390 of housing 39 which also encloses the pinion 44 with its clutch 48.

The nuts 37, 38 may be selectively decoupled from their hydraulic piston 52, e.g., by inactivation of their ratchet clutches 4'7 and 48, in order to facilitate the descent of the ram 22 after it has been raised to its highest position. The raising of the ram proceeds at a relatively slow rate, e.g., of less than 1 mm. per piston stroke, and all pistons of the system are concurrently actuated at the same rate by their common control unit.

In the ensuing description of the operation of my improved system it will be assumed that, as illustrated in FIG. 5, one or more upper stories have already been completed and are held above ground level by bars 36 engaging the underside of reinforcing ribs B At this stage the base of column C rises above the level of the horizontal form board 23b by at most the thickness of a slab S with its ribs B (FIG. 6) to be cast thereon. The falsework 23 has been positioned for the casting of such slab and its column C (FIG. 6). The usual reinforcing elements E (for the slab) and E" (for the column) have been laid in, it being noted that the column reinforcements E" extend into the cavity 31 through slots 39a left for this purpose in distributor plate 30. Wedges 29 are in place alongside the boards 23a to stiffen them against lateral displacement and back-sliding, such wedges being also inserted between column C and braces 26 at the level of the second story where they bear directly upon the hardened column.

With the pouring of the concrete to form a lower-story framework immediately above the foundation 20, the structure has been monolithically extended downwardly as the base of column C merges with and is bonded to slab S After sufficient hardening, the entire building skeleton together with its falsework 23 is elevated by a concurrent raising of all its columns, in the aforedescribed manner, as has been illustrated in FIG. 6. It will be apparent that, in view of the presence of bridge pieces between the slab S and the column C such raising requires the prior removal of the second-story braces 26, e.g. successively from bottom to top in order to maintain the vertical guidance of column C as long as possible. Naturally, the shims 36 will also have to be withdrawn from their cutouts 35 before the slab S can be lifted into the erstwhile position. of slab S Although the dismounting and re-establishment of the form may be carried out in various ways and at different stages of the operation, it may be convenient to let at least the boards 23a and 23b (which may be interconnected) travel with the newly cast column along all or part of its one-story rise and to restore them to their original position upon removal of the remaining wedges 29. Shims 36 are reinserted to support the ribs B of slab S before the ram 22 together with plate 30 is returned to its withdrawn position within foundation 20; the second-story braces are also remounted at that stage, though of course the lower ones of these braces could also have been installed earlier to help support the rising column C It will be apparent that the vertical reinforcements E", which have cleared the slots 30a of plate 30, now remain suspended below the level of boards 23b so as to become anchored to the next column and slab to be poured.

When the structure has been fully erected, the framework of the last story is not elevated but allowed to remain at ground level where it has been cast. Subsequently, the uprights 21 and the auxiliary supports 24, 25 are disassembled and removed whereupon the gaps left by the uprights in the slabs of the lowermost story or stories can be filled; corresponding gaps in the higher slabs could, of course, have been filled at an earlier stage, i.e. as soon as these slabs rose above the tops of the uprights. The elevating mechanism is extracted from the foundation 20 which, if desired, may be further excavated to accommodate a basement.

In FIGS. 12 and 13 I have shown that it is possible to obtain a monolithic structure by the present method even if an upper column C is elevated only so far that its base lies at or below the lower surface of the ribs B of a lower-story slab S poured thereafter. may insert a removable core 56 into the lower end of the column so as to leave therein a sloping channel 56a through which concrete may subsequently be poured for the casting of the next-lower column C as an integral extension of column C It will be apparent that jacks and other means serving to elevate a cast and hardened framework may be brought to bear at other or supplemental locations, e.g. upon the unde'rsides of the reinforcing ribs or beams B B etc., and that the mechanism illustrated in FIGS. and 11 (though of advantageous construction) is representative of various alternate lifting devices. These and further modifications, not specifically described, will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art and are intended to be encompassed in the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of erecting a concrete skeleton for a multistory building having a plurality of superposed one-story frameworks of slabs and columns, comprising the steps of:

(a) excavating a recess in the ground with a depth of at least one story and forming in the resulting excavation a foundation for said skeleton;

(b) erecting on said foundation an array of fixedly positioned upstanding support members, having a height of at least two stories, about the site of each column of a framework to be cast;

(c) temporarily mounting upon said support members a concrete-molding formwork including form boards for each column disposed within said array;

(d) inserting between said form boards a set of elongated generally vertical reinforcing members for each column, at least some of said reinforcing members having ends projecting downwardly into said excavation;

(e) monolithically pouring each column between said form boards and an overlying slab spanning all the In this case I columns so poured. thereby forming a framework for an uppermost story of the building;

(f) allowing said framework to harden into a structure sufficiently rigid to be elevated above said foundation;

(g) elevating said structure by lifting each column thereof to a second-story level with the aid of respective jacks disposed in said recess whereby said projecting ends extend downwardly below said level;

(h) temporarily retaining said structure on said second-story level by bracing it against said support members while withdrawing the jacks into said recess preparatorily to the pouring of a framework for the next-lower story of the building;

(i) and proceeding in like manner in the formation of a similar framework for each subsequent story, with the columns of all frameworks mutually aligned and with insertion of reinforcing members between the form boards for the lower columns in overlapping relationship with the ends of the reinforcing members from the upper columns.

2. The method defined to claim 1 wherein said support members are removed upon completion of the last framework.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 836,368 11/06 Dexter 26433 1,045,520 1 1/ 12 Conzelman 169 1,332,617 3/20 Dodge 25l31 1,701,113 2/29 Keller 26433 2,434,708 l/ 48 Mathis 25131 2,871,544 3/59 Youtz 50534 3,028,707 4/62 Sagalovitch 505 34 FOREIGN PATENTS 613,403 11/ 48 Great Britain.

ROBERT F. WHITE, Primary Examiner.

ALEXANDER H. BRODMERKEL, Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF ERECTING A CONCRETE SKELETON FOR A MULTISTORY BUILDING HAVING A PLURALITY OF SUPERPOSED ONE-STORY FRAMEWORKS OF SLABS AND COLUMNS, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: (A) EXCAVATING A RECESS IN THE GROUND WITH A DEPTH OF AT LEAST ONE STORY AND FORMING IN THE RESULTING EXCAVATION A FOUNDATION FOR SAID SKELETON; (B) ERECTING ON SAID FOUNDATION AN ARRAY OF FIXEDLY POSITIONED UPSTANDING SUPPORT MEMEBERS, HAVING A HEIGHT OF AT LEAST TWO STROEIS, ABOUT THE SITE OF EACH COLUMN OF A FRAMEWORK TO BE CAST; (C) TEMPORARILY MOUNTING UPON SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS A CONCRETE-MOLIDNG FORMWORK INCLUDING FORM BOARDS FOR EACH COLUMN DISPOSED WITHIN SAID ARRAY; (D) INSERTING BETWEEN SAID FORM BOARDS A SET OF ELONGATED GENERALLY VERITCAL REINFORCING MEMBERS FOR EACH COLUMN, AT LEAST SOME OF SAID REINFORCING MEMBERS HAVING ENDS PROJECTING DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID EXCAVATION; (E) MONOLITHICALLY POURING EACH COLUMN BETWEEN SAID FORM BOARDS ANAD AN OVERLYING SLAB SPANNING ALL THE COLUMNS SO POURED, THEREBY FORMING A FRAMEWORK FOR AN UPPERMOST STORY OF THE BUILDING; (F) ALLOWING SAID FRAMEWORK TO HARDEN INTO A STRUCTURE SUFFICIENTLY RIGID TO BE ELEVATED ABOVE SAID FOUNDATION; (G) ELEVATING SAID STRUCTURE BY LIFTING EACH COLUMN THEREOF TO A SECOND-STORY LEVEL WITH THE AID OF RESPECTIVE JACKS DISPOSD IN SAID RECESS WHEREBY SAID PROJECTING ENDS EXTEND DOWNWARDLY BELOW SAID LEVEL; (H) TEMPORARILY RETAINING SAID STRUCTURE ON SAID SECOND-STORY LEVLE BY BRACING IT AGAINST SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS WHILE WITHDRAWING THE JACKS INTO SAID RECESS PREPARATORILY TO THE POURING OF A FRAMEWORK FOR THE NEST-LOWER STORY OF THE BUILDING; (I) AND PROCEEDING IN LIKE MANNER IN THE FORMATION OF A SIMILAR FRAMEWORK FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT STORY, WITH THE COLUMNS OF ALL FRAMEWORKS MUTUALLY ALIGNED AND WITH INSERTION OF REINFORCING MEMBERS BETWEEN THE FORM BOARDS FOR THE LOWER COLUMNS IN OVERLAPPING RLATIONSHIP WITH THE ENDS OF THE REINFORCING MEMBERS FROM THE UPPER COLUMNS. 